It was awkward work lowering one of the boats strung to the side and rowing to shore by herself, but she managed. As Niya did most things. She had grown stronger in her time on the Crying Queen, her body molding different muscles than it had under any of her previous training, the skin along her hands and feet calloused from rougher work than throwing knives and kicks.
As she neared the shore, waves pushed Niya the rest of the way onto the beach. She jumped out, pulled her boat farther up along the sand, and tied it to a large piece of driftwood. Niya wiped at the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, scanning the perimeter of the dark jungle. The air was thicker here than it had been on the ship. It held a pleasantly warm breeze that pushed through her white shirt. It was also quiet, peaceful with the lapping of waves behind her. There were no shouts or sounds of people or even a hint there might be a city, let alone a palace, beyond the jungle that stretched before her. Which was a good thing. Niya didn’t need the extra burden of being stopped before she had even begun.
The section of jungle that she had seen Alōs enter sat empty, but that was not a problem.
Niya’s magic allowed her another trick. While she could sense movements, she could also pick up trails of old ones, especially if they belonged to those who held the gifts, so long as they’d been recently made. And Alōs’s energy of movement she had memorized early on. It oozed from him like perfume: cool, buzzing, and powerful. It was eerily similar to her sisters’.
Honing her powers, Niya sent out a gentle mist of her magic to detect another’s. Like dust being blown over liquid, Alōs’s trail appeared. It was faint but there, hovering in the air. A light-green energy that led into the thick foliage.
With pulse quickening, Niya followed.
The crashing of the shore faded behind her and was replaced with sounds of wildlife as she wove between closely growing moss-covered trees and ducked under bright, glowing flowers. Twinkling bugs filled the night air, and she watched a spider with bright-silver legs climb along a leaf. She drank it all in, this new wild kingdom, the place where Alōs had been born. Part of her wanted to remain in the woods, look upon every new thing, but with a shake of her head, she kept on task.
Alōs’s trail was beginning to fizzle out, and she would not squander this opportunity.
Reaching the jungle’s end, Niya stepped onto a dirt path that appeared to line the side of a large wall, where hints of a town rested on the other side. She squinted into the night, waiting for anyone to pass.
None did.
In fact, she could feel no movement anywhere.
It was as if all kept to their homes this night. Warm glows emanated from the other side, and though she was desperate to climb over and see how the people of Esrom lived, that was not where Alōs had gone.
Turning left, Niya followed where the faint line of his magic still floated in the night along the edge of the path.
After barely a quarter sand fall, Niya stopped, the trail gone cold.
“Sticks,” she muttered, spinning in a circle.
It was as if he’d just disappeared.
Confused, she ran a hand through the vines in front of her and, with a jump of excitement, felt a strange groove in the stone. She pulled the vines away to reveal a door.
“Sneaky pirate.” She grinned.
It was clearly locked, but locked doors rarely stopped a Bassette. With a fluttering of her fingers, the handle clicked open, uncovering a dark stretch of tunnel.
Stepping through, Niya touched the cool, wet stone on either side of her, feeling her way forward in the black abyss. Her soft tread echoed dully along the dirt floor, mixing with her breaths. She walked like this for some time until a hazy glow at the end of the path appeared.
Her magic tingled along her skin as she hurried forward, her heart picking up its pace as she stepped into an enchanted courtyard filled with glowing pools. A floral fragrance danced around her invitingly, and she stood entranced.
What beautiful place is this?
Niya tipped her head up, drinking in the sparkling turrets stretching high above her.
By the stars and sea, she was in the palace.
Niya drew her brows together.
Why would Alōs come to the palace?
Before she could wonder further, she felt the energy of people approaching and darted behind a thick bush.
A group of servants in white passed through the courtyard. They held baskets of linens and trays filled with candles. Not a one spoke as they entered and then exited into a covered walkway at the other end.
On silent feet, Niya slunk in the other direction, following what little bits of Alōs’s trail she could still detect.
She found herself walking through an opulent hall, where an intricate tiled mosaic decorated each of her steps and a beautiful depiction of a sun-filled sky made up the stained glass ceiling. The sparkling of silver was everywhere, and Niya’s chest hummed in pleasure at the beauty.
But as she continued, Niya began to notice two things:
One, Alōs’s trail of magic seemed tangled up with another’s; and two, the palace was extremely empty. Besides the servants from earlier, she had yet to find a single guard or court member.
Niya’s mind spun with what this could all mean. Where was everyone? And who was Alōs meeting in the palace? And why?
The energy in the air also felt off. It was oddly heavy and sober for how beautifully this kingdom glowed. Had something happened?
Niya’s pace quickened as her curiosity burned stronger.
Turning a corner, she peered down a dark, thin corridor where it appeared Alōs had gone. But she was growing uncertain, as the magic in this place muddied up her Sight. Everything seemed to shimmer and sparkle with the lost gods’ gifts. The art, the fabric draping the walls, even the insects that floated by.
She glanced behind her, to the quiet palace hall, wondering if she should backtrack. No, she thought, I’ve made it this far; if anything I might pick up his trail at the end. Turning back, she stared down her new path. No candles lit the way, but Niya had grown up in a palace of her own and knew when she’d found a servant’s hallway. Slipping into the shadows, she felt her way forward, walking for what felt like forever before coming to a dead end.
A single torch sat in a sconce, lighting up the marble wall and revealing a tiny crack in its surface.
Niya pressed a hand to it and smiled when it gave easily.
She cautiously stepped through, finding herself behind a thick drape of fabric. She remained there when she sensed a group in the room beyond.
A voice filled the chamber.
Alōs’s voice.
Niya stopped breathing.
“I can’t stay much longer,” he said.
“I’m glad you came at all, brother,” said another man.
Brother?
Niya’s heartbeat thumped erratically as she chanced a peek through an opening in the drapery.
She was in a bedroom, and a massive, beautiful one at that.
A large bed took up the majority of the space, and a canopy mimicking the night sky floated above. Hundreds of candles lit the space, throwing warm light across the opulent woven rugs and furnishings. Three figures stood at the end of the bed.
Alōs loomed large in his black leather coat, brown skin exposed at the base of his neck before giving way to his white tunic and black vest. His sword handle peeked out at his hip. Niya drank in his strong presence, which dominated that of his two other companions.
A man in blue robes stood across from him. And despite his long, braided white hair, he looked young, perhaps Niya’s age. An ornate silver tattoo glimmered across his smooth forehead. It was a marking Niya had never seen before.
The third man appeared the most delicate, almost frail in comparison to Alōs. He was by far the youngest. His hair was as dark as night, dramatized by the white crown atop his head.
Royalty.
And was that . . . ?
Niya squinted.
It looked like silver paint sat frozen middrip on his forehead and hands.
“I must ask about your search,” the young man said, placing his metallic fingers on Alōs’s forearm. “Though I fear what you might answer.”
“Then I suggest you do not ask. You have suffered enough this night, Ariōn.”
“We both have,” Ariōn corrected, looking frustrated. “They were your parents too.”
Niya’s mind reeled at what she was hearing, seeing.